Usually Normal
by Silver Bones in a Green Sauce
Summary: Even after all these years, he was still a Harry Potter fan. This was his way of saying goobye to it. Halloween fic, Pip and Craig centered.


The children of South Park had learned over the years that it was best to avoid Eric Cartman and his group of friends. The town was usually involved in extremely abnormal situations—in other words, crazy shit went down—and the four boys—Eric Cartman, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick (or Leopold "Butters" Stotch, depending on whether or not anyone could_ find _Kenny)—could usually be found right in the middle of all the trouble. Even Craig Tucker, who had, once upon a time, picked fights with the boys (and, admittedly, hung out with them on the rare occasion), had learned that it was best to avoid them.

Because of this avoidance, Craig had a habbit of adopting the more unnoticed boys into his group, the ones that didn't want to come up with obscene plans or go through time. No one in his gang blended _completely_ into the background—though Clyde came close to it—but they weren't (usually) wrapped up in the other gang's antics. They were the kids who fell of their bikes, who got in fights with their parents, who got swindled out of their birthday money.

Clyde Donovan was the plainest member of Craig's group, his most noticeable traits being that he was the slowest when it came to smarts (you know there's something a bit off about your friend's intelligence when a teacher calls them a complete retard), the second fattest kid in their grade (the first being Cartman), and he was on the school's football team. Token Black was the richest member of the gang, and he was also the only black child in all of South Park. Tweek Tweak was the third member, and he was the one that stood out the most; his hair was never brushed—or, if it was, he gripped it so hard and so much that it became a complete mess before he even got to school—his jacket was never buttoned correctly, and he was _loud,_ always screaming that things were too much pressure. In short, Clyde Donovan was the almost-normal one (though Craig often wondered if his taco obsession could be counted as normal), Token Black was a token black, and Tweek Tweak was a twitchy coffee freak. Craig himself was normal, though he had a habit of flipping people off that he was usually only half-aware of; after years of doing it, it had become a subconscious trait. He was also more stotic and sarcastic than most children their age.

They would also, on occasion, pick up what he'd call a straggler; a member who would stay with them for a while then branch off onto their own, like Jimmy (though he was seen more with Timmy than he was by himself), or, in Butters' case, go back to Cartman. Craig didn't mind though; people came and went, and if they didn't stay, it wasn't _his _fault. Besides, it left room for new members, and the old ones were welcome to come back, as long as they didn't bring any of Cartman's craziness with them.

It was October, and Craig had one certain straggler in mind: Phillip "Pip" Pirrup. It wasn't that he liked the boy. No one did. They had played once back in gradeschool together, but that night was the very reason that Craig wanted Pip with him; the kid was a Harry Potter fan. Craig didn't "get into," as the term was, many things, but Harry Potter? He had been a fan of Harry Potter since he was a young boy, and as a way of saying goodbye to it, he was going to go as the bespectacled boy for Halloween. He had talked Token into it easily enough; he had read the books in middle school, and after a few minutes of Craig flat out telling him to do it, he finally agreed to go as Blaise Zabini. Next came Clyde. The boy wasn't too big on the fandom—"gay" had been the word that he used to describe it—but after Craig had promised to have his next birthday party at Casa Bonita, the brunette gave in and decided to go as Neville Longbottom. It was a good thing, too; Craig was almost ready to hit him, which would have made Clyde, who had always been a cry-baby, cry. Tweek was a no-go, he had known from the beginning; they had spent hours one year trying to convince the kid to go out with them for Halloween, and after it had finally worked, he had ruined their night by screaming and whimpering every single time something jumped out at them in the dark. Tweek Tweak in a funhouse, especially during Halloween, was not a good idea, Craig had learned, and it had made the boy to decide that everyone in the group would be happier if Tweek just stayed home during the holiday. Craig and Token—there was no way that Clyde would do it, the fatass—would share their candy with the boy (they had stopped Trick-or-Treating years earlier; it was much more fun, Craig had decided, to steal the candy from other kids), and all would be well.

Except it _wasn't_ all well. The group needed a fourth member, preferably a blond. That's where Phillip "Pip" Pirrup would come in.

The school had changed over the years, though not by much. Instead of throwing a costume party like a _cool_ school would have done, they still gave out a huge amount of candy to the student with the best costume. The difference though was the way that they chose; instead of a single person winning, you had to either go in groups or as a couple. Clyde had offered to pretend to be his boyfriend for the night—the kid loved candy—but not wanting to look gay, Craig had declined, instead choosing the group option. The way that it was set up though, each group had to have at least four members in it; because of Tweek's absense—the kid wouldn't even leave his house to go to the school during Halloween—they only had _three. _Jimmy had a stand-up gig that night that Timmy was going to, Bebe couldn't be persuaded to join them (though Clyde had tried his hardest; his daddy's shoes just weren't good enough anymore), Annie was doing something with the other girls, Kenny wasn't an option, and Butters had been (yet again) swept into Cartman's group. That left Pip.

Of course, they were still planning on stealing candy from little children, but for Craig it wasn't _about _the cavities in disguise; it was about a chance to beat Eric Cartman without actually having to _deal _with the asshole. He still had a bit of the old fight left in him after all, it seemed. Besides, if Clyde didn't get at least one huge bucket of candy to himself for Halloween, he'd whine. Clyde whining would always somehow cause Tweek to end up freaking out, and that would cause Token to try to comfort both of them. What kind of leader would he be if he had one man crying, one screeching about something (usually someone drugging them, like _that _made complete sense), and the other looking at him like he'd done something horrible. Honestly, the things that he had to deal with. Sometimes he wondered if he'd just be better off alone. It would certainly make things more boring, which he liked. But then he'd see Token share his taco with Clyde, Cartman make fun of Tweek for spazzing, or Clyde's stupid looking grin after winning a football game, and he wouldn't wonder about it for a while, not until one of them started getting on his nerves again—which is what Clyde was doing that very moment.

"I don't want that Frenchie around me!"

The conversation had been going on for almost twenty minutes; lunch would be over soon, and then their chance would be gone. It was a week before Halloween/dress-up day at school, and if they wanted to dress up for it, they would need to get their costumes that weekend. It was already Friday, and the only one who had a class with the Brit was Clyde; he certainly wasn't going to ask the blond to hang out with them, so if Craig wanted to their group to have it's fourth member, he would have to convince him now.

"I'm going to be replaced! ACK!"

"No one's going to be replaced."

"Token's right. He's not joining us."

Craig was getting pissed off, though he didn't let his facial expression show it. Clyde's voice usually didn't irritate him—they had been friends for years—but his head was beginning to hurt more and more with every word that the boy spoke. Perhaps Token could sense this—he was usually the only calm one in the group when Craig was pissed off—because he kept trying to sooth the other two, though to no avail. After five more minutes of this—he kept a close eye on the clock—he had finally had enough.

"You guys do what you want. I'm going over there."

There being the table that Pip always sat at, completely alone. Even the losers thought that the kid was a spazz. The blond had his head down, focused on his fries. He didn't seem to have an appetite for them, probably wishing for crumpets or something instead. Because he didn't expect anyone to sit by him, it took a moment for him to look up when Craig finally reached him.

"Oh dear. Are you lost, old chap?"

Old chap. Craig wasn't sure Clyde would be able to handle that. Craig himself had grown used to odd behaviors—he was around _Tweek _almost constantly during the school day—so he'd get used to it eventually, but he knew that his best friend would have trouble adjusting to the boy's dialect.

He knew that his gang was behind him; even if he hadn't heard them following after him, he would have known anyway, because he had known that they _would_ follow him. He had waited as long as he had to give Clyde some time to cool down, but even if the brunette had still been angry to the point of shouting, he would have followed Craig. Clyde Donovan was, if anything, loyal, at least to him. Tweek was less likely to follow his leader out of fear of being replaced, but Craig knew that Token would have persuaded him to do so. Besides, the blond didn't like the idea of being left behind in a crowded room; according to him, someone was out to get him.

Without answering Pip's question, Craig sat down at the kid's table. Instead of being scared—it wasn't uncommon for someone to be bullied if they sat down at Craig Tucker's table without permission—the Brit seemed happy for some company. Ecstatic, even. Craig would have felt pity if he was the type of person who usually felt such things. Token was probably doing it enough for the both of them anyway.

"Oh, jolly-day! I haven't had a bit of company during lunch in so very long!"

He wasn't looking at Clyde—the other boys were still standing behind him—but he could imagine his friend clenching his fits. They were already off to a _great_ start. He wasn't going to deal with Clyde's issues that moment though; he had better things to do.

"You're invited to go costume shopping with us this weekend. Meet us outside of your house at six today."

One benefit of living in such a small town was that after a while you knew where everyone lived. Besides, they had already _been _to the kid's house plenty of times—to throw eggs and toilet paper at it. They really were bullies; even Token and Tweek would go along with picking on somebody if he talked them into it long enough. If it was anyone but Pip they were talking to, the kid would probably wonder if he was being stood up as a joke. It _wasn't _though, and instead, Craig and his gang got to hear about how happy the boy was to be included for about two minutes straight. Lucky for them—and the kid, because Clyde was about to finally snap—the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch.

CT/PP/CD/TB/TT

Clyde had calmed down by the time they picked Pip up, though he was still unhappy with the scenario. That was one of the main differences between him and Craig—their tempers. While Clyde could blow up at something and get over it after a few hours, Craig would usually remain stotic about it after flipping the person off, all the while holding a grudge that usually lasted for a few weeks, if not longer.

Clyde was the one driving, as usual. Tweek was the only member of the group without a liscense—he was convinced that he would crash, which was one of the few paranoias the boy had that Craig actually thought could happen—but Clyde was usually their driver, despite Token having the nicest car among them. They all were usually fine with Clyde being behind the wheel—even Tweek didn't twitch as much as one would thing—but he was starting to piss Craig off again; he had drove past Pip's house twice already claiming ignorance as to where it was. The third time was the charm though, as the blond was now waiting out on the sidewalk. Not having an excuse to pass him up again, the brunette—grumbling all the while—pulled over to let him in.

"Don't stop! A car could ram into us! GAH!"

So maybe Tweek wasn't _so _comfortable with Clyde's driving, but at least he didn't panic the _whole_ way to the Brit's house. Then again, he was probably afraid that if he did, he'd be sat out on the side of the road. Being replaced as a group member was far from the worst thing that Tweek imagined could happen in that scenario, Craig was sure.

"So sorry I'm late! I took a little nappy-wappy and overslept!"

It was a good thing that Tweek didn't have a watch on. Pip was at least a good fifteen minutes early, not late, and if the twitchy blond in the back seat realized this, he would think that he had lost time or something equally as insane.

"Don't worry about it."

CT/PP/CD/TB/TT

It took a little over two hours to reach the costume shop. There were closer ones to their town—hell, their town even _had _a costume shop—but they were either small and crappy or they didn't have what Craig was looking for. He had called ahead three days prior to make sure the one that they were going to did and after having it confirmed had decided that the time it'd take to get there would be worth it; watching Clyde slowly relax after the first hour of being around the newest member of their group made _sure _that it was well worth the trip, even if the shop sold out of what they were going to buy. He doubted that it would though; the place was fucking _huge. _

The conversation in the car ride on the way over had consisted mainly of food (Clyde's contribute), music (Token's), the government (Tweek's), and siblings (Craig's). Apparently the Brit ate more than crumpets in a day (though foreign food still sounded shitty), _had_, actually, heard American bands, though never in concert, did _not _believe that the government was out to get anyone, and had a sister—or a monster; she sounded like she belonged in a horror story. It took until half-way into the car ride before one of the boys (Token) noticed that Pip was not, in fact, French, which caused a conversation that last for at least half an hour. Not that it would _matter_; like everyone else in the town, the boys would forget his origins after a while. Still, the blond seemed excited to explain that he was not, in any way possible, French. Besides, this revelation seemed to relax Clyde even further.

When they finally reached the store, the group decided to split up. Clyde, as usual, decided to go with Craig. Though he'd probably be happier alone, Token chose to take Tweek, knowing the boy couldn't handle himself alone in a new place. That only left . . .

"Who shall I go with?"

He was looking between the groups of boys, a smile on his face. How good it felt to finally be included in something!

"You can come with us."

It wasn't until Token had lead the two blonds off in the opposite direction that Craig realized that he hadn't told Pip what to wear. He wasn't going to worry about it though; Token was smart enough to handle it.

It wasn't until _that _moment that he realized he didn't even know if Pip still _liked _Harry Potter.

CT/PP/CD/TB/TT

He was standing in a changing room, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He could hear loud noise coming from somewhere outside of the room and he hoped that it wasn't Tweek—really though, who else could be _that_ loud?—because he didn't want to be thrown out of the store, but he wasn't going to bother going to look.

His dark hair was much messier than it usually was. He had the right type of glasses on and under them his normally blue eyes were covered by non corrective green contact lenses; it had taken him a few days to decided whether or not he should pay the money to buy them or just keep his eyes their normal color. Daniel Radcliffe had blue eyes, but they weren't the accurate color. He needed to save his money for the outfit he needed . . . Finally though, Token agreed to pay for them, assuring him that they weren't that much anyway. Craig usually wouldn't let someone buy something for him because he didn't care to pay them back, but Token was the richest guy he knew, and if he could have green eyes for his costume he knew he'd be _soo _happy, so . . .

He had on the Gryffindor school robes—what he had come for. They were warm, which was perfect considering their town's climate and the fact that they would be outside for half the night, and they fit his frame snugly. He gripped a fake wand in his hand, and, though he didn't look anything like Radcliffe, he could see himself playing Harry Potter's role perfectly.

"Who are we fighting for? Gryffindor."

He allowed himself a rare, small smile. Nothing was going to ruin his night.

"Sweet."

CT/PP/CD/TB/TT

When he finally came out of the changing room, Clyde was waiting for him, bitching before he even made it over to the changing room door that the brunette was standing by. He didn't want to dress up as someone from Harry Potter, he didn't even _like _Harry Potter, he didn't even act like the kid he was dressing up for. Craig was prepared for the onslaught though, and he just ignored it, waiting for the other members of their group.

Because he was leaning against the changing room door, Craig had assumed Token was inside of it. The dark skinned boy came around a corner, Tweek trailing after him, not long after Craig got there though. The twitchy blond was wrapped up in something—fake spider webs, it seemed—and was whimpering and shrieking, but Craig wasn't concerned; he was used to such things. He was looking around, trying to spot the British boy that should have been with the pair. Before he could ask where the missing party of their gang was though, the door beside Clyde opened, and out he came, fully dressed in Slytherin robes.

"Oh dear, me. Draco Malfoy. I must act in character, I'm afraid, if I do this, so I apologize if I'm a wee bit cruel. It wouldn't be proper any other way."

Craig looked him over slowly, and for the first time he could ever remember, it was actually hard _not _to smile. Token and Clyde looked fine in their outfits, but Pip looked like he was actually made for the part. The robes were a bit too big on him, but if one wasn't looking closely, it wasn't noticeable. His hair was, like it usually was, down; instead of slicking it back, it seems he had chose the look from the third film. His hat was gone—as was Craig's—and he, like Craig, gripped a wand in his hand. His blue eyes were shinning with mirth, which Craig didn't like; Malfoy wasn't one to be as happy as the kid was, but Craig wasn't concerned. Pip HAD said that he would get in character, and at least his eyes were naturally blue. Besides, Craig had seen the kid pissed off—he could remember a few dodgeball games from when they were in gradeschool—so he knew that the kid could get mean if he needed to. Plus, like with the color of his eyes, Pip had two other advantages; his hair was naturally blond, so he didn't need a wig, and he was actually _British._ Even if they had gotten to Butters before Cartman had, they still would have been lacking something that they had now—the very thing that got their new gang member into trouble: his voice. The authenticity had helped calm Clyde down; it gave them a uniqueness that could help them win the best costume award.

"Scared, Potter?"

Craig brought his eyes back to the Brit's. While he had been looking the boy over, Pip had apparently been doing the same to him. He was now doing what Craig assumed to be the best smirk that he could pull off, and though the reference failed on two of this friends—one of which was too concerned with getting untangled to be paying any attention to them anyway—and made him feel like a dork, he went along with it.

"You wish."

CT/PP/CD/TB/TT

The days passed slowly. Pip started to eat lunch with them, and even though a few assholes—namely Cartman—laughed at them for it, he allowed it. Clyde didn't even put up too much of a fuss; he would give the foreigner the occasional glare, but for the most part, he'd just ignore him. By the third day, Clyde was even _talking _to him, though it wasn't much. The fourth day was the day that the blond finally won him over.

"Oh, Clyde! I was in town the other day, and I saw this! I thought you could pack it around with you tonight!"

Screaming. The kid was almost always screaming. It wasn't the hateful kind or the paranoid kind that Tweek was prone to; Pip was just that excited. Craig was sure it would stop off after a while, so he tried not to let it irritate him. Besides, after Halloween, he planned on ditching the boy anyway. It was cruel, but Pip drew attention to them—attention that Craig didn't want.

Out of Pip's sachel—which Clyde made sure to call a purse every chance he got—he pulled a stuffed toad. Clyde, undoubtedly, would not get why he was being given such a thing, but Pip seemed proud of his gift, Token was smiling at it, and Craig couldn't help but smirk at the image of Clyde walking around with a toy all night. Clyde stared at the thing blankly for about half a minute before he finally responded to it.

"No thanks. I don't want it."

And with that, no one was smiling. Token looked disapproving, Craig's smile turned into a frown, and Pip looked a bit heart broken.

"Oh . . . Oh, I see. All righty then."

He meant to put it back into his bag, but Token stopped him; his hand went over Pip's and Craig cast his eyes around the room to see if anyone was watching them. Unwanted attention was bound to occur again today, he was sure, but Cartman and Kyle were arguing about something half way across the room, and everyone seemed to be focused on that.

"He was just joking."

Pip seemed relieved, so Token let go of his hand. The whole table was watching what the Brit would do, even twitchy Tweek; the coffee addict would be there for the school day (in his mind, if you miss one day, they'll kick you out) but leave before the costume judging began. He'd expect one of the other boys to call and tell him how it went sometime around midnight, and if one of them didn't, he'd assume they were ate by a monster or stabbed or something. Tonight Craig would make Clyde do it.

"Ha . . Rather funny joke."

He seemed to believe the dark-skinned boy, but he didn't seem as excited to give the frog to Clyde now.

"It wasn't joking. I'm serious. I don't want it."

This time Pip's frown was worse than the first time, if that was even possible, but he still didn't move to put the frog away; perhaps he was hoping that Clyde really was joking, or maybe he thought Token would just stop him again.

"You do want it."

It was the first time during the conversation that Craig had spoken—he had wanted to see if Clyde would take it without him prompting him to—and it caught his best friend's attention. After a stare-down between the two of them, Clyde finally gave in and took the toy frog, clearly unhappy about it; he never won when it came to stare-downs with Craig Tucker.

"Thanks, I guess."

Clyde was, on the occasion, prone to pouting; he turned to his empty plate and poked at it for a few minutes, refusing to speak—not that anyone tried to get him to. Pip was the only person at the table who didn't know Clyde well enough to know that once he got like that, it'd be a few minutes before he'd be okay. The Brit kept chatting away though, which is a better result than what had happened the first time Clyde gave the silent treatment in front of Tweek; the blond had had a panic attack, thinking somehow the brunette's voice box was broken.

"Are you still hungry, Clyde? You can have the rest of my lunch, if you want it. I'm so nervous about tonight, I hardly think I'll be able to eat it all. Oh, I do hope we win!"

Clyde perked up at that; it was taco day. Phillip Pirrup, though under the impression that he had already done it, just won Clyde Donovan over.

CT/PP/CD/TB/TT

"This is bullshit!"

Clyde threw his wand down; Craig wasn't looking, but he could hear it snap as it hit the ground. He could also hear Pip muttering "Oh dear . . " somewhere behind him and Token trying to console the both of them. He knew that he should turn around and try to rally their spirits—if they didn't calm down, it'd make stealing candy a whole hell of a lot harder later (or easier, depending on whether or not they were going to jump out at people or just bully it out of them)—but he kept his eyes on Cartman and his group of losers. He waited until they noticed him staring before flipping them all off, even Butters, and turning away from them. Assholes.

"It is bullshit. They probably just won because Butters is dressed up as Marilyn Monroe. I bet Garrison and the principle just want to fuck him."

His still-green eyes trailed back to the group of four boys—Kenny was missing again—and he watched as they lugged their candy off of the stage.

"I think we've found our targets for the night. Come on, boys."

He turned his gaze back to his boys; Pip had been watching him the whole time having realized early on that he was the leader, Token nodded, and Clyde looked up from the spot on the ground he had been staring intently at. They probably wouldn't win—they never did, it seemed, when it came to those guys—but they were willing to follow him anyway. Starting trouble with Cartman and his gang would only _cause _that—trouble. It had been years since they had fought though, and even though Craig hated what getting involved with them lead to, he was Craig Tucker. Their groups were _bound_ to fight with each other. He had learned at the end of the Pandemic years prior that sometimes things just happen, and you couldn't help them. It seemed crazy considering he knew that he could just walk away—a large part of him _wanted_ to walk away—but it felt like one of those things.

Clyde Donovan approved of something at last without having to be talked into it, it seemed.

He wrapped one arm around Clyde's shoulders, the other going around Pip's. He had decided to keep the boy after all; he knew that it would cause unwanted attention, but so he hung out with a rich kid, a jock, and . . . Tweek. Attention was bound to come his way, whether he wanted it or not—unless he just stopped hanging out with his friends all together. They _were_ annoying lots of the time, too. He wasn't a pussy or a loser though; he was the leader of a gang, and he wasn't planning on giving that up anytime soon.

CT/PP/CD/TB/TT

Two days later, Clyde was still pissed off about the candy. Even if they stole plenty of the stuff from little kids, he still wanted more. Craig had told him to just get over it, but even after that, the kid was still bitching. He started to stop eventually though; Pip would bring him candy and other sweet (thankfully American) treats every time he saw him, making Craig glad he decided to keep him more and more.

Being a ward of the state—Craig hadn't known that the blond was an orphan until they started hanging out with him—the boy wasn't rich though, and they all knew it. That's why, whenever they decided to go to a rock music festival, Token paid for his way in.

Yep. Being a normal kid was sweet. While he got to hang out with his (almost) normal friends, Eric Cartman and his group of boys were off saving the world.

Being Craig Tucker made him _soo _happy, and he wouldn't trade his normal life for anything.


End file.
